Australia vs Serbia: Hopman Cup tennis live scores, blog

Hometown favourites Australia will do battle with big guns Serbia this evening in one of the most anticipated matchups of the 2013 Hopman Cup. We’ll have live scores and a blog from Perth at 8.30pm AEDT.

In the first match of the night, Australian young gun Bernard Tomic will put his ultimate game to the test when he takes on world number one and five-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic.

Having both come off convincing wins in their previous matches – Tomic defeating Germany’s Tommy Haas and Djokovic beating Italy’s Andreas Seppi – they will no doubt be looking to continue their dominance when they take to centre court.

Djokovic currently leads their head-to-head 3-0, with their most recent meeting being at the Rogers Cup in Toronto back in August where the Serb won in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

It’ll be a mighty task for the 20-year-old Queenslander to overcome Djokovic but he has taken a set off Djokovic in the past during their 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinal, and has also beaten a number of top-10 players, including Robin Soderling and Tomas Berdych which will give him some much-needed confidence.

That combined with his newfound resurgence of form and fighting attitude, he will definitely test Djokovic and make it as difficult as possible for him to win.

We are no doubt in for a treat with this match and will undoubtedly see some blistering rallies and high quality displays of tennis.

Meanwhile on the women’s side, former world number one and 2008 French Open champion will take on 16-year-old Ashleigh Barty. It’ll be the first time these two have ever met so we’re definitely in for an interesting contest.

The Crowd Says (35) | Page 1 of Comments

Lets put this in perpective Tomic beats Djokivic
in Hopman Cup they are hitting partners but the real bonus for Australia is Ash Barty who will be top 20 and even higher.She has the perfect temperment and game and is coached by an all time great Evonne Goolagong get on her bandwagon Australia.

Congrats again to Tomic. Although only a exhibition match and still a long way to go for him – it’s great to see him receiving some positive press for a change!

However on that note, that is unfortunately it from me tonight. With this time difference and other commitments I have to leave you. However be sure to tune in to the Hopman Cup website for more live coverage on the next match on Perth Arena between former world number one Ana Ivanovic and Aussie teenager Ashleigh Barty.

Thanks again for your company. I’ll be back tomorrow to cover Tomic’s next opponent in Andreas Seppi of Italy. See you all then!

Tomic produced an impressive performance tonight. In a game lasting 1hr and 24mins Tomic had 13 break point chances, 8 aces and 25 winners. In comparison Djokovic only had one break point opportunity, produced only 4 aces and 12 winners.

A cross court forehand which can only be described as “too good” sends Tomic up 0-15. Djokovic is in all sorts producing errors on both sides and sending two into the net to give the Aussie three break points.

Unable to convert after sending two backhands down the line just wide and Djokovic producing an unreturnable serve, the game moved to deuce.

Yet Djokovic came up with some incredible skills reaching out to do the splits on one point just to get a shot back. But after three deuces and a mini spectator interruption Tomic forces Djokovic long to break once again.